This is one of those pedal to the metal runs for every ship going from Tampa to Key West and who wants to arrive mid-morning. Due to the 3 hour transit time through Tampa Bay, it takes much longer to get from Tampa to Key West then from Ft. Lauderdale where departure takes only 30 minutes. (Plus Tampa is higher up the Florida coast as well, which also adds more miles). So if a ship has an early departure say 17.00 hrs. and manages to pull out by 16.30, then you can make Key West Pilot Station around 08.30 – 08.45. Now the Rotterdam left shortly after 18.00 hrs. and that means you are looking at a pilot station time of 11.00 hrs. at the earliest. In the old days we could do a short cut through the Dry Tortugas but that is now a National Park and thus we have to sail around it. Hence this morning the ms Rotterdam was at the pilot station just before 11.00 and docked well before noon.

Basically we were the hour late, that we lost waiting in Tampa. Unfortunately for our Royal Caribbean friends, they had to follow us out in Tampa Bay and arrived even later than we did. But they had the better dock, being on the B pier, and we had to content ourselves with the Navy dock. And that meant that we had to use the little shuttle trains again around the dock all the way to the port entrance. This was a new one for me; Grave yard and Ghosts tours in Key West. Never seen that one before.

 

USNS Spearhead bow view.

I had already seen the ship being docked there last cruise but now we were next to it. The navy ship Spearhead was docked on the inside of the Navy pier. For a navy vessel it is of a very unusual design, being a sort of Catamaran with water jet propulsion pushing out water with 12000 hp. Rumor has it that the navy was inspired by the Stena Line Fast Ferry’s who were sailing between Hook of Holland and Harwich and they could carry a lot of guests, cars and lorry’s between the ports in a very short time. And if boys see toys……………..  So a navy version was designed and they called it an Expeditionary Fast Transport ship. Because it has no fighting capabilities by itself it is commanded by civilian officers under the Military Sealift Command structure and has a crew between 22 and 41. The thought behind it is to have very a very fast transport capability if needed.  And fast it is, having a maximum speed of 43 knots. It can carry all sorts of things as the inside is basically a box (modular design they call that) and so they can just stick inside whatever is needed. Even humans as it can carry 312 troops and they can be landed very fast by means of Inflatable speed boats. Accordingly Wikipedia, there are more of them but this is the first one of the class and it has already been everywhere. Key West is a sort of home port for them when they are not on missions and thus we saw them today in port.

And another view from the side. As it is basically made out of aluminum, they decided not the paint the hull but to keep it as built.

Although we did not have much of an issue in the end with the weather in Tampa, except sailing late, we are still not off the hook. We just managed to get into Key West with a beautiful sun shining but with a lot of wind blowing. That wind is supposed to increase, so the captain is trying to get out as quickly as possible, as sitting between the Key West reefs with a lot of wind is not the best place to be. Tonight and tomorrow we will follow the Coast of Florida taking maximum advantage of the Gulf Stream and eventually we will enter into the North Atlantic Ocean. This we will certainly feel as the Ocean Swell will meet the ship as soon as we clear the Bahama Banks. We have about 900 miles to cover and will do that by maintaining an average speed of 19 knots.  Once clear of the Bahamas it will be one straight North Easterly course running straight towards Hamilton Bermuda.

For those on board who are scared about the Bermuda Triangle; courtesy of Holland America we will sail just outside it. At least we are sailing just outside the area which the experts say where the triangle is located. I do not believe anything about this triangle business, as thus far never a passenger ship has disappeared and cruise ships sail through it all the time. Maybe too many witnesses???

Our course line is just skirting the North West boundary, the line that most “experts” seem to agree upon where the triangle stops.

The weather for tomorrow: we have this cold front coming through and the wind should move from North West to the East and thus it is hard to say what the effect on the ship will be. I am expecting rain, tonight and tomorrow, but how much is anybody’s guess.